Seam jumper and selvage lifter



Dec. 31, 1968 w. R. BURNETT SEAM JUMPER AND SELVAGE LIFTER Filed April 13. 1967 Sheet INVENTOR WILLIAM R.BURNETT ATTORNEY Dec. 31, 1968 w. R. BURNETT SEAM JUMPER AND SELVAGE ILIFTER Sheet Filed April 15, 1967 ATTORN EY 3,418,968 SEAM JUMPER AND SELVAGE LIFTER William Robert Burnett, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., assignor to J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 630,708 7 Claims. (Cl. 1188) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for coating sheet material, and more particularly for applying a latex coating to a running material such as textile fabric whereby select areas of the textile fabric are kept in an out-of-contact relation with the coating applicator to retain select areas free of the coating.

SUMMARY One conventional procedure for applying a latex coating to a textile material employs an apparatus which generally includes a frame supporting a coating roller associated with a latex solution holding tank. The roller is partially submerged in the latex solution and positioned with respect to the holding tank whereby upon rotation of the coating roller, the latex solution adheres to the surface 'of the roller leaving the latex solution, and deposits the latex solution to the underside of a travelling fabric which contacts the exposed surface of the coating roller. Generally, the fabric traverses a path through the coating apparatus as defined by a series of one or more strategically located rollers supported by the frame at least One of which is disposed in close proximity to the coating roller and positioned with respect to the coating roller so as to provide the proper tension and contacting relation of the fabric to the exposed surface of the coating roller.

For commercial purposes, the fabric to be processed comprises bolts, cuts, or sections of fabric which are joined by sewing the ends across the width of the fabric thereby resulting in a large roll of fabric having seams which appear transverse of the fabric periodically with respect to the longitudinal direction of the fabric.

Unfortunately, the presence of these seams in the fabric presents operating problems resulting in damage to substantial amounts of material, and quite often relatively expensive material. For example, when the coating is applied to the fabric, the coating material builds up at the seams on the bottom or back side of the fabric which build-up tends to streak the bottom side of the fabric resulting in uneven coating application. In addition when the coating roller contacts the seam, some of the coating material is forced on the face side of the fabric thereby creating streaking or splattering along the face of the fabric. As a result of these occurrences, it is necessary to separate about twenty feet of this defective material from each section or bolt of fabric thereby adding to the cost of processing.

Another disadvantage of conventional coating apparatus is that in processing textile material, it is desirable and indeed often times necessary. that the selvages of the fabric be kept free from coating since the presence of coating in the selvages seriously interferes with subsequent fabrication processes such as cutting and sewing. For example, when drapery material having a latex coating on the back and the selvages is sewn together along the selvages, coating material on the selvages interferes with the sewing operation and results in broken needles, uneven seams, and similar problems. Thus, it is not only desirable hired States Patent 3,418,968 Patented Dec. 31, 1968 to prevent the coating from being applied at or near the seamed ends of the fabric joining bolts of cloth or fabric together, but also at the selvages of the fabric.

An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus for applying a coating to a travelling textile fabric while maintaining select areas of the textile fabric in an out-of-contact relation with the coating ap plicator device.

Another object is to provide a coating apparatus which coats the underside of a travelling woven fabric while maintaining the selvages of the fabric free fro-m the coating application.

Still another object is to provide apparatus for coating the underside of a travelling fabric having sections of cloth sewed together which apparatus prevents coating material from building up on the underside of the traveliing fabric at an area proximate to the sewn edges.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for applying a coating to a textile fabric while maintaining certain portions of the textile fabric in an uncoated condition which comprises a coating applicator positioned to provide a coating to a portion of said textile fabric in proximity thereto, and means for deflecting certain portions of said textile fabric from said applicator a distance sufficient to prevent the application of coating thereto including detecting means for detecting selected areas of said certain portions, fabric biasing means operatively connected to said detecting means for biasing said selected areas from said coating applicator and edge biasing means for biasing the edges of the fabric a distance sufficient to prevent the application of coating therealon Fo r a clearer understanding of the invention reference is made to the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed side view of the selvage lifter;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view partly in cross-section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, reference numeral 10, generally denotes a frame which can be rigidly mounted on a floor by means of securing members (not shown) engaging and securing the base 11 forming the lower part of the frame, to the floor. Journalled in bearings 12 near the upper part of the frame 10 is a guide roll 13 which extends transverse of the frame 10 and which is freely rotatably mounted with respect to the frame 10. Positioned below the guide roll 13 is a directing roll 14, which is freely rotatably mounted on the lower portion of the frame 10 in a manner similar to the guide roll 13. The directing roll 14 directs fabric to be treated to the guide roll 13 as explained hereafter.

Referring to FIG. 2, situated downstream from the guide roll 13, i.e., in the path of the travelling fabric 15 leaving the guide roll, is a coating roll 16-, which is adapted to provide a coating such as a latex coating to the underside of the travelling fabric 15 in a manner which is well known in the art. For this reason and for purposes of simplicity, no structural features are indicated in the drawing showing the operation of the coating roll. Merely as illustrative however, the coating roll 16 can be associated with a solution holding tank (not shown) which contains a coating solution such as a latex coating solution. The coating roll which is partially submerged in the latex coating solution rotates through the coating solution. The exposed surface of the roll, leaving the coating solution has a coating adhering thereto which is deposited onto the underside of the travelling fabric in contact therewith.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the upper most portion of the guide roll 13 and the upper most portion of coating roll 16 are in substantially horizontal alignment i.e., the upper outer periphery of each roll is substantially horizontally aligned. The path of travel of the travelling fabric 15 is as indicated by the direction of the arrows in FIG. 2 of the drawing. Thus it will be obvious that the guide roll 13 and the coating roll 16 rotate in clockwise direction with the fabric 15 being given a coating on the underside of the fabric as it passes over and in contact with the exposed surface of the coating roll 16.

The fabric which may be treated according to the present invention may be a woven fabric or a knitted fabric fabricated from fibers having a natural and/or synthetic origin. As explained previously for commercial processing, these fabrics are joined in bolts or sections and normally are sewed or joined together by lapping one end of a fabric bolt or section to the end of another bolt or section and thereafter sewing these lapped ends together. This conventional technique results in a system whereby the plane of the lapped sections extend above the normal plane of the fabric. Thus it will be obvious that by employing conventional apparatus, when these lapped sewn ends encounter the coating roll, or a coating applicator, the application of coating will be uneven, and streaks appear in the coating on the underside of the fabric. In addition, it is often times necessary to keep the coating from being applied to the edges of the fabric which in the case of woven cloth would be the selvages of the cloth. It is these certain portions of the fabric which are kept in an uncoated condition by utilizing the apparatus of the present invention.

According to the present invention, means are provided for deflecting these certain portions a distance sufficient to prevent the application of coating by the coating applicator. In the case wherein the coating applicator is a coating roll which contacts the fabric, these means maintain these areas in an out-of-contact relation with the coating roll and include detecting means i.e., means for detecting selected areas of the certain portions i.e., the seamed ends of a travelling fabric, and fabric biasing means operatively connected to the detecting means to lift these areas i.e., the lapped ends or seams, and the edges of the fabric from the action of the coating roll 16.

Referring again to FIG. 2 it will be seen that the detect- 13 is a contact button 19 which extends through the casing. The contact button when depressed completes an electrical circuit and activates the microswitch for the purpose to be explained hereafter.

Positioned on the casing below the contact button 19 and adjacent the guide roller 13 are sensing means which include a feeler arm 21 having an extended V-shape configuration. The feeler arm is pivotably mounted at one end to the casing as shown at 22. The other end of the feeler arm 21 supports a rotatable member 23 having a circular configuration the rotatable member revolving about axle 24 passing through the feeler arm and through the center portion of the rotatable member. As shown in FIG. 2 the fabric 15 passes over the guide roller 13 in contact with the rotatable member 23 which is being urged against the fabric by a resilient device such as the tension exerted by the spring 25. Mounted on the feeler arm is a rod 26 which has one end secured to the feeler arm and the other end positioned against the contact button 19. Although the spring is shown as being associated with the rod 26 it will be understood that the spring may be located away from the rod with one end of the spring being afiixed to the casing and the other end being afiixed to the feeler arm independent of the rod 26. The length of the rod 26 and the distance between the contact button 19 and the feeler arm 21 is such as to permit the contact button to remain in normal position, that is in its undepressed position.

During normal processing however, when the rotatable member 23 senses an area of the fabric to be uncoated such as the area proximate to the lapped sewn ends, it is urged counter clockwise against the tension urged by spring 25 in a manner to depress the contact button 19 by the action of the rod 26. This procedure activates the micro-switch 17.

Upon activation of the micro-switch current is permitted to flow through wires housed in conduit 27 which are connected to holding coil 28 through terminals 30 thereby energizing holding coil 28 which form a part of fabric biasing or lifting means adapted to bias or lift the fabric so as to permit the fabric to be in an out-of-contact relation with the coating roll 61 as shown in FIG. 2. These fabric lifting means also include a lifting roll 29 which extends transverse with respect to the length of the frame. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the lifting roll 29 is movably mounted with respect to the frame 10 by means of a cradle 31 which extends transverse of the frame. Located on each end of the cradle 31 is a downwardly projecting member 32 each of which accommodate one end of the lifting roll 29 in rotational engagement therewith.

Positioned one near each end of the cradle 31 are holding elements 33 which are vertically disposed and which have their lower ends rigidly secured to the top of the cradle 31. The upper portion of these holding elements slidably engage the top portion 34 of the frame 10. Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the top portion 34 of the frame 10 has two extending walls 35 which extend upward from the top portion of the frame and which are adapted to support a lock nut 36 which is releasably secured to the holding element 33 by means of a set screw 37 When the lifting roll 29 is in its normal or first position, the holding element 33 is at its lowermost position with the lock nut 36 resting on the top edge of the walls 35, the extent of downward displacement of the lifting roll being determined by the setting of the position of the lock nut 36 with respect to the holding element 33. While in this position, the fabric to be treated passes over the lifting roll 29 in contact with the coating roll 16 whereby a coating is applied to the underside of the fabric. In a second position of the lifting roll 29, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2, the fabric passes over and in contact with the guide roll 13, the lifting roll 29, and is in an out-of-contact relation with the coating roll 16.

The second position of the lifting roll 29 is achieved with the aid of a plurality of the holding coils 28 which are positioned along the length of the cradle 31. Referring to FIG. 1, three such holding coils 28 are illustrated. These holding coils are mounted on the frame 10, each having a plunger 37 passing through the center of the holding coil. The lower end of the plunger is secured to the cradle 31 in a manner such that any vertical displacement of the plunger also causes the cradle and consequently the lifting roll 29 to be lifted the distance of vertical displacement of the plunger 37. Vertical displacement of the plunger is effected by the field created by the holding coil when the holding coil is energized. In FIG. 1 the system of wiring for energizing the holding coil is shown and comprises a system of circuits, A indicating the circuit from the micro-switch 17 to the junction box 38, A, the main circuit from the junction box 38 and A each circuit from the main circuit A to the holding coil 28.

Thus it will be apparent from the foregoing that when the rotatable member 23 encounters a seamed end of the fabric 15, the feeler arm 21 pivots away from the guide roll 13 against the spring 26 and the rod 25 depresses the contact button 19 activating the micro-switch, permitting current to flow through circuits A, A, and A" thereby energizing holding coils 28. The holding coil lifts the plunger 37 and attached cradle 31 thereby lifting the lifting roll 29 from the first to the second position as shown by the dotted lines of FIG. 2. This action causes the fabric containing the seamed end to be lifted over the coating roll 16.

When the feeler arm leaves the area containing the seamed ends, the feeler arm returns to its original position against the guide roll 13. The contact button 19 returns to its original position thereby breaking the circuit causing the holding coil 28 to be de-energized. The fabric weight causes the lifter roll 29 to be restored to the first position permitting the fabric 15 to be in contacting relation with the coating roll 16.

The required vertical distance of travel of the lifter roll 29 in order for the fabric 15 to clear the coating roll 16 is a function of the distance between the guide roll 13 and the coating roll 16, and the speed of travel of the fabric 15. This may be determined either before or during operation of the apparatus by visual observation. In addition, there is located in the junction box 38 a conventional time relay mechanism so that a signal from the detecting means is delayed for a time sufficient for the selected areas of the fabric 15 to pass from the guide roll 13 and over and clear of the applicator or coating roll 16. Normally the speed or velocity of travel of the fabric is about 35 to 45 yards per minute and the time delay mechanism can be set to provide a delay of signal to the fabric biasing means of from about one second to about ten seconds.

As explained previously in addition to the seamed ends of the fabric, it is also necessary that the edges of the fabric be maintained in an out-of-contact relation with the coating roll. This is effected by employment of edge biasing means strategically positioned on the apparatus.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 it will be seen that the edge biasing means include oppositely disposed lifter legs 39 positioned one on each side of the apparatus. Each lifter leg 39 has an angular portion 41 which normally is disposed substantially parallel to the path of travel of the fabric 15. These angular portions register with the edges of the fabric, which in the case of woven fabric comprise the selvages of the fabric, and support the edges of the fabric. Each lifter leg 39 is pivotally mounted with respect to the cradle 31 in a manner such as to provide for varying adjustment of the lifter leg. Referring particularly to FIG. 4 the mounting means include a plate 42 and a cover 43 which envelop the cradle 31. The plate and cover are detachably secured by wing nuts 44 which threadably engage bolts 45 extending from cover 43 through plate 42. Situated above the cover 43 and rigidly attached thereto is a sleeve 46 which rotatably receives shaft 47. The lifter leg 39 is affixed to the shaft 47 at the end opposite the angular portion 41 of the lifter leg 39 as shown in FIG. 4. At the other end of the shaft 47 is affixed a lifter arm 48 which is connected to pulley means for varying the position of the lifter leg 39. As best seen in FIG. 3, these pulley means include a pulley 49 supported by a finger 51 mounted on the frame 10. A resilient member 52 is attached to the lifter arm 48 and the other end of the resilient member 52 is attached to a weight 53. It will be obvious that the heavier the weight 53, the greater the tension of the resilient member thereby causing the lifter leg to be raised a correspondingly greater distance. The entire assembly i.e., the edge biasing means are positioned one on each side of the apparatus immeditaely prior to the location of the coating roll 16. The travelling fabric 15 leaving the guide roll 13 and lifting roll 29 encounters each angular portion 41 of each lifter leg 39 at the edges or selvages of the travelling fabric. As a result, the selvages are biased upward from the plane of the travelling fabric and due to the action of the biasing means and the velocity of the fabric, only the edges of selvages of the fabric clear the coating roll 16 while the body of the fabric engages the coating roll resulting in a coating being given to the underside of the body of the fabric 15.

It shoulde be understood that the above described apparatus can be employed for processing any type of sheet material in which a coating is desired in the body of the material but but not to select areas of the material defined as areas in' which the plane of the select areas extend beyond the normal plane of the sheet material. With minor modification, it is also possible to service fabrics which are connected or joined by a zig-zag stitch, which as is known does not form lapped ends but rather creates voids or spaces between contiguous but joined fabrics interrupted by the zigzag stitch. In this type of stitching, the registering means described above would include, in lieu of the feeler arm arrangement, a photocell which is adapted to detect the voids between the joined contiguous fabrics, the photo-cell being operatively connected to the fabric lifting means by a system of circuitry similar to the circuitry shown above.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for applying a coating to a textile fabric while maintaining entire transverse overlapped seam areas of the textile fabric in an out-of-contact relation with the coating applicator which comprises a frame, a coating roll mounted on said frame adapted to provide a coating to a portion of said textile fabric moving in a path in coating proximity therewith; detecting means for detecting overlapped seam areas of said fabric to be uncoated; a guide roll which rotatably receives said fabric and which guides said fabric to said coating roll; sensing means for sensing said overlapped seam areas of said textile fabric; activating means associated with said sensing means; fabric lifting means associated with said activating means for lifting entire transverse overlapped seam areas of said fabric out of the path of close proximity wtih said coating roll, whereby the overlapped seam areas are maintained free of coating over the entire width of said fabric.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said detecting means comprises a casing; a switch located in said casing; a contact button positioned through said casing and adapted when depressed to activate said switch.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said fabric lifting means comprises a lifting roll disposed intermediate said guide roll and coating roll, said lifting roll having a first position wherein said fabric passes over and in contact with said guide roll, said lifting roll, and said coating roll; a second position wherein said fabric passes over and in contact with said guide roll, said lifting roll and in an out-of-contact relation with said coating roll, and means for lifting said lifting roll from said first to said second position.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for lifting said lifting roll from said first to said second position includes a cradle vertically 'movably mounted with respect to said frame, said cradle supporting said lifting roll in rotatin relation therewith, a plurality of holding coils mounted on said frame, said holding coils being associated with said switch and said lifting roll in a manner such that when said switch is activated, said holding coils are energized permitting said holding coils to vertically lift said cradle and lifting roll thereby raising said fabric a sufficient distance to clear said coating roll.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 further including an edge biasing means for biasing the edges of said fabric in an out-of-contact position with said coating roll, said edge biasing means comprising a lifter leg having an end portion angularly disposed with respect to said lifter leg, said angular portion being adapted to register with the edges of said fabric passing thereover, mounting means for pivotably mounting said lifter leg with respect to said frame and pulley means associated with said mounting means for varying the position of said lifter leg.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said mounting means include a plate secured to said frame, a cover secured to said plate, said plate and cover enveloping said cradle, a sleeve positioned on said cover having a rotatable shaft extending therethroug-h one end of said shaft being secured to said lifter leg, 3. lifter arm secured to the other end of said shaft, said lifter arm being associated with said pulley means.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said pulley means include a pulley, a resilient member registering with said pulley, one end of said resilient member being secured to one end of said lifter leg, the other end of said resilient member being secured to a weight element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1955 Nilsen et al. 1188 XR 11/1963 Frei 1188 XR 6/ 1965 Ziffer 1188 5/1966 McGraw 1188 12/1966 Wood et al 1188 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 5/ 195 0 Great Britain. 8/1963 Great Britain.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Exmniner.

15 ROBERT I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner. 

